Category: gratitude

gratitude, thankful

Leap: Holiday Flight Delays Lead to Enlightenment and Gratitude

Christa Avampato

194006696417450729_dbovQ3tr_cI was in the airport security line yesterday for my return flight home that was delayed by 3 hours. The line was moving at a snail’s pace when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Is it okay for everyone to go through those fancy 360 degree body scanners?” a woman asked me.

“I know that if you have a pacemaker or oxygen tank, you should avoid the machine.”

“I have end stage liver disease. Is it safe for me? I hate to ask because I don’t like anyone to know I’m sick.” Without hesitation, I tossed up a silent prayer for this woman while feeling like a jerk for worrying about my travel delays.

She went on to tell me that she was flying to New England to go to Yale University Hospital. She needed to have her levels checked to see how high up on the liver donation list she could be. She has a grandson who is 10. Her name is Camille.

And here’s the real kicker: she looked as healthy as can be. I wouldn’t have guessed she even had a case of the sniffles much less end stage liver disease.

“I will make sure to say a prayer for you. It’s a wonderful hospital,” I assured her. “You will get incredible care there.”

“Thank you so much. You have a happy new year,” she said with a smile and we parted ways.

Nothing like a dose of someone else’s reality to push my worries to the periphery and make me abundantly grateful for all the blessings in my life. On the flight home I said a few prayers for Camille, and a few thank you’s to the Universe for once again letting me know that I am one lucky duck. Far luckier than most, and I won’t forget it nor take it for granted.

courage, creativity, customer service, determination, generosity, gratitude, thankful, time

Leap: You Don’t Need More

Christa Avampato

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My friend, Adela, posted this on her Pinterest board and it raises a question that I’ve run through my mind so many times this holiday season. It’s fine to wish or hope for something though every person I know who is happy has two qualities in abundance: gratitude and determination. They don’t pray for things to get better; they work hard and make them so. They recognize the value of who and what they have in their lives and they share with others.

Here’s what I’ve learned – everything, absolutely everything, can be figure out. We can find a way into a new job or field. We can solve challenges, locally and globally, by extending our hands and acting together. We can find love by opening our hearts. We can improve our world, for ourselves and others, by shutting down our devices, leaving our homes, and rolling up our sleeves. And none of this requires that we have more stuff. It requires that we have more heart, more concern, more courage, more confidence. It requires us to understand that we have everything we need to do everything we want to do. The question is what will we do with it.

This Christmas, I hope we all get just one thing in our stockings – the strength to decide that the helping hands we want are the ones we already have.

generosity, gratitude, time

Leap: Giving and Receiving

Christa Avampato

13721973834777679_QnmqYJYl_bThere’s something to be said for giving without asking for anything in return. Give time, love, kindness, empathy. Give it away to people who need it and ask for it. Give it away to people who need it, even though they’re too proud to ask for it.

I’ve never regretted giving. Even if it didn’t come back to me in the way I expected or hoped or wanted it to. I have found that in some way everything I’ve ever given has been returned to me many times over.

I’ve been sorry for times when I didn’t give enough, or when I didn’t give at all. I often think about those times and wish I could go back and do more. But since there’s no changing the past, I double down on my giving today and tomorrow. That lesson has been its own gift.

I know this much is true: the more I give, the more I receive. The more I give, the more I believe in the power of goodness. The more I give, the more I realize that we have the opportunity every day to make this world a little brighter, a little better, a little more like a world we’re proud to call home.

grateful, gratitude, thankful

Leap: A Shout Out for Gratitude

Christa Avampato
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From Pinterest

“Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.” ~ Gladys Bronwyn Stern, British writer

Say thank you. To the people who inspired you, whether you know them personally or not. To the people who made a difference in your life. Who encouraged you at every turn to be more than you ever thought you could be. Who helped you reach further, run faster, rise higher, and breathe deeper. To the people who set the example by which you live. To the people who showed up not only to celebrate your victories, but also to comfort you in your hour of defeat. The people who helped you dust yourself off after a hard day so that you could try again tomorrow with a full heart.

There is something so sacred, so liberating, about expressing gratitude. Thank you is free, and it multiplies. You say thank you to someone and it inspires them to pay it forward. You can never say thank you too much. You can never be too grateful. So go ahead and overdo it. Way overdo it. Throw it around far and wide as if it has no end because it doesn’t. It is one of the few resources in this world that is truly infinite. It’s one of the gifts you can give anyone and they will love it more than anything else they’ve ever received. They will remember it during their darkest times and their greatest triumphs. It’s that rare possession that we can take with us wherever we go.

Say it out loud. Say it online for the whole world to see. Write a letter. Send an email. Text. The method doesn’t matter so long as the message is sent loud, clear, and often.

adventure, creativity, failure, faith, grateful, gratitude, time, work

Leap: My Freelance Life Will Continue Into 2013

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“I have learned that faith means trusting in advance what will only make sense in reverse.” ~ Philip Yancey via my pal, Lisa, the lovely Charmed Yogi

About a year and a half ago, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at developing an independent consulting practice to freelance full-time on projects that are meaningful to me. A meticulous personal financial planner, I knew it would take me a year to put away enough money to feel comfortable to make this leap with my whole heart. I knew the final number I needed to have in the bank and set up monthly savings goals to reach it.

I made a deal with myself that I would try this lifestyle for 6 months, working my tail off to try to make ends meet. If I could cover all of my expenses by the end of 6 months, then I could keep going. If I couldn’t, I would look for full-time work again. And just to keep things interesting, I had to be very passionate about the freelance assignments I took.

June 15th of this year was Leap Day for me. I had my Mary Tyler Moore moment, wished my former employer a fond farewell, and off I went into the great big world of freelancing. While much of that time has been as close to career nirvana as I’ve ever had, these last few weeks have been slightly fraught with anxiety. December 15th is quickly approaching. I have turned down a fair amount of work because I just didn’t feel passionate about it. There were a couple of assignments I deeply wanted to secure that didn’t come to pass. I started to realize that I may not reach my goal, despite my very best efforts. A full-time job search looked inevitable.

And then in 24 hours it all turned around. I’m elated, over-the-moon, pleased as punch, ecstatic, and grateful beyond measure that I started a short-term assignment yesterday that put me in the black. With a couple of weeks to spare, I hit my goal of covering all of my expenses with freelance work by December 15th. I even have a little bit extra to put back into my savings and this gig has the potential to create a steady stream of wonderful, well-paid work into 2013.

Thank you so much to everyone who believed that this lifestyle could work for me, who cheered me on, who shared in this incredible journey in so many ways. I am humbled by your belief in me and deeply appreciative of the encouragement. I’ll find some way to say thank you that reflects just how much your support means to me. Happy holidays indeed!

grateful, gratitude, holiday, time

Leap: The Miracles of the Season

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“It is a miracle if you can find true friends, and it is a miracle if you have enough food to eat, and it is a miracle if you get to spend your days and evenings doing whatever it is you like to do, and the holiday season – like all the other seasons – is a good time not only to tell stories of miracles, but to think about the miracles in your own life, and to be grateful for them.” ~ Lemony Snicket

The holidays are always an intense time of reflection for me. I think about what’s happened over the course of the year – what went right and where I fell off the tracks. I also consider what I’d like to manifest in my life in the coming year and what I might do to bring those circumstances to life. It often involves a combination of letting some things go, making time, exerting effort in a positive direction, and raising my awareness.

After traveling to India in May, I became hyper-aware of everything in my life that is wonderful and good. I found that if I put more investment into those areas of my life, those gifts multiplied while the unfortunate circumstances of my life that weren’t so joyful began to fall away. I also found that if I focused on the blessings right in front of me rather than always looking so far down the path at what I thought I needed, I enjoyed each day more and that happiness extended over the days ahead, soaking deep into every moment.

There were far more miracles in my life than I realized and to finally realize them felt like a much-welcome and long-overdue relief. I do have true friends. I have my fill of good food to eat. I spend my days and nights engaged in things I like to do. What more could I possibly need? The real miracle is to wake up knowing that I do not lack anything, to understand that I live a life of great abundance.

This miracle is at work every day and my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night is always “thank you, thank you, thank you.” May the same revelations find you this holiday season.

grateful, gratitude, holiday, thankful, thanksgiving

Leap: A Continuous Circle of Thanks

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.” ~ Elizabeth Gilbert

Many people are heading off to the stores today to grab Black Friday deals. Holstee has a different idea. “Founded in 2009, Holstee exists to encourage a more mindful lifestyle through the goods they design and the messages they share with the world.” They’re asking people to re-frame the Friday after Thanksgiving into “Block Friday”, as in block Friday off for something special, something mindful, that doesn’t involve shopping.

On Thanksgiving morning, I woke up and made a pact to be grateful all day – my hot shower, breakfast, the sunshine that kept a smile on my face as Phin and I took a 2 hour walk in Riverside Park, friends whom I spent Thanksgiving with and all of the others that I connected with throughout the day to share my gratitude for having them in my life, the amazing meal prepared by my friends Crystal and Tim, and for all of the fun activities I have planned with friends in the weeks ahead as we all get into the full swing of the holidays.

I love this season because it asks us to spend time to say thank you, to be grateful, and to accept the gratitude of others. It really is such a beautiful thing to have a holiday built for the sake of togetherness and goodness and nothing else. We are so lucky, so blessed. It’s lovely to have a national holiday that asks us to remember that.

I like this morning pact I’ve made so much that starting “Block Friday” I’ve vowed throughout this holiday season to take a moment before I open my eyes to give thanks, to walk through my days saying thank you – silently and out loud – as often as possible. Giving thanks doesn’t cost a dime but what it brings back to you in priceless.

grateful, gratitude, holiday, thankful, thanksgiving

Leap: The Only Prayer We Need

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘ thank you,’ that would suffice.” ~ Meister Eckhart

Are there any two words more beautiful, powerful, and necessary than “thank you”? When simply strung together they convey gratitude, love, compassion, understanding, relief, comfort, and faith. There is always a reason for them, even if that reason is not abundantly obvious on the surface of our living. There is always someone, somewhere who is thinking of us, wishing us well, proud of our past, joyful for our present, and hopeful about our future. That one person, wherever they are, is reason enough to celebrate this day and every day. And in turn we always have the opportunity to be that person for someone else.

No matter how you are spending this day, whether it involves many moments of reflection or just one, I hope a feeling of thanks floods you completely – mind, body, and spirit. Today my Thanksgiving is filled with thanks because it is filled with all of you.

gratitude, nonprofit, writing, yoga

Leap: Compass Yoga’s First Grant Application is Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

Christa Avampato

With great excitement (and a sigh of relief!), I clicked ‘submit’ on Compass Yoga‘s first grant application yesterday. We applied for a 2013 Special Projects Grant from the New York State Health Foundation. A huge thank you to the dedicated and passionate board members as well as our uber-talented teachers and partners who make Compass the beautiful and valuable organization that it is. I am humbled and honored by their support and commitment. Namastes all around!

dreams, generosity, gratitude

Leap: We Show Our Humanity By What What We Do For Others

Christa Avampato

“A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.” ~ D. Elton Trueblood, American author and theologian

What are you building for others? What will survive long after you and provide a benefit to those whom you will never even meet? A piece of writing, a work of art, a song, a donation to an organization that supports a cause you care about.

These things change someone’s life. They give them hope when they’re down. They help them hang on when all seems lost. They trigger memories, inspire change, and encourage dreams.

When you give freely of yourself with no request for repayment of any kind, there’s no telling how much that gift will do for someone else’s spirit, and for your own.